Railway car roof structure



Aug.28, 1951 V E, EST v 2,565,710

RAILWAY CAR ROOF STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 5, 1947 1 I I 3 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

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RAILWAY CAR ROOF STRUCTURE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 5, 1947 INVENTOR. IZwzarZ W252 Aug. 28, 1951 v. E. WEST 7 2,565,710

RAILWAY CAR ROOF STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 5, 1947 s Sheets-Sheet :s

INVEN TOR.

Patented Aug. 28, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE RAILWAY CAR ROOF STRUCTURE Victor E. West, Chicago, 111., assignor to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Iii., a corporation of Delaware Application December 3, 194.7,Ser-ial No. 789,374 6 Claims. (or-108 5.4)

This invention relates to improvements in railway car roof constructions of the all steel welded type wherein roof sheets are disposed crosswise of the car and connected at their opposite ends to the side plates of the car. Said sheets are provided along their sides with upstanding flanges, the abutting flanges of adjacent sheets being connected together so that said sheets form a load sustaining structure. Abutting flanges are covered with a seam cap which is rigidly connected to said flanges and to the side plates to form a carline and to eliminate the possibility of rain or moisture passing between said flanges and into the lading compartment of the car.

Ordinarily said seam caps are riveted to the abutting flanges of the roof sheets by horizontally disposed rivets passing through the sides of the seam caps and the flanges.

It is the principal object of the present invention to form the roof sheet flanges, and the seam caps, so that they may be rigidly secured together by welding, retaining the advantages of a riveted structure and at the same time, eliminating the necessity of punching the flanges and seam caps and riveting the same together.

It is a further object to associate with the seam cap, and the substantially abutting upstanding flanges of the roof sheets an inside carline having an upstanding flange positioned between said roof sheet flanges, and to provide means for drawing the seam cap and the inside carline together, thereby squeezing the margins of the roof sheets therebetween. I

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this application, wherein like reference'characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of an end roof sheet,

and an intermediate roof sheet and carline joined together by welding in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of an intermediate end sheet showing its attachment to a car side plate.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail of that portion of a seam cap which occurs over a seam clamp, showing the rectangular opening in said seam cap through which the seam clamp extends.

Figure 4 is a section on line 44, Fig. 1.

Figures 5 and 6 are respectively side and end views of the seam clamps at the ridge of the car which also support the running board saddles.

Figures '7 and 8 are respectively side and end 2 views of .the other seam clamps used in carrying out the invention.

Figure 9 shows the application of .a running board saddle to the seam clamps.

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 2,.but of one end only of a modified form of the invention.

Figure 11 is a vertical cross section on line HH of Figure 10.

In the accompanying drawing, an intermediate roof sheet is shown at I which, as is common, slopes downwardlyfrom .the transverse .middle thereof, or ridge, to'the eaves of thecar where they terminate in downturned flanges that are welded or otherwise secured to the car side plates 3. Roof sheets I are, provided along their side margins with upstanding flanges 4 formed so that they may abut substantially flush with the adjacent flange of an adjacent sheet. The adjacent sheet in the present disclosure, is that of an end sheet 5, also formed with an upstanding flange 4. along one side, and a down turned flange along the other side to overlap the end wall of the car. Longitudinally along these flanges 4 and at intervals of about a foot, these flanges are indented as at 6 (Figure 3), said indentations being in length about equal to the width of the seam clamps and in depth about equal to one-half the thickness of said seam clamps, so that when adjacent flanges 4 are in abutting relationship, a seam clamp I may extend between a pair of said indentationsB, it being obvious that the indentations are spaced so that they occur opposite one another when the flanges 4 abut and are in position to be secured together.

An inverted U -shaped seam cap 8, having laterally extending base flanges9, is adapted to be positioned over each pair of abutting flanges 4, and secured thereto as hereinafter described, with the base flanges 9 resting flush against the margins of said roof sheets adjacent said flanges. The side walls of said seam cap are bulged outwardly, as shown at [3 in Figure 3, at spaced intervals corresponding to the spacing of the indentations 6 in the flanges 4, and a rectangular hole II] is punched through the top of each bulged portion l3 of said seam cap. This rectangular hole It] is of a size to closely approximate the width and thickness of a seam clamp 1 so that when a seam cap 8 is assembled over a pair of abutting flanges 4, a seam clamp I may be inserted into the space between the opposed indented portions 6 and through said hole Ill. Each seam clamp l is formed from a piece of flat plate material about 1 wide by e" thick, with a 3 base portion ll of the same material providing lateral flanges about all four sides. The upper portion is reduced in width for a short distance, as at I2, and the juncture of said reduced portion with the remainder is weakened, as by forming grooves on opposite sides thereof as shown in Figures 7 and 8. Thus, when a seam clamp 'l is inserted between the flanges 4 and through opening ID, as above described, the base flange Ii thereof will bear against the under surface of the adjacent roof sheets, as shown in Figure 4, with the reduced portion 12 projecting through the rectangular opening Ill in the seam cap 8, and the flanges 9 of the seam cap bearing down upon the upper surface of the roof sheets. In this position, the seam clamp I is welded about its four sides to the seam cap about the edges of opening 10, thereby securely holding all parts together. The seam clamp 1 extends from side plate 7 to side plate transversely of the car, as shown,

and terminates at its ends in turned down portions, each overlapping its respective side plate and securely welded or otherwise fixed thereto.

The roof sheets I and 5 and seam caps 8, being thus secured to the side plates of the car, form a rigid roof structure as a whole, which is durable and waterproof.

As a means to secure the seam clamps l tightly in place, I have shown a hole therethrough about at the juncture of the reduced portion thereof, so that when the seam clamps are assembled as above described, a tapered wedge 26 may be inserted through said hole 25 and bear down on the top of the seam cap, as shown in Figure 11, when it may be tack welded, the wedge removed, and then the weld completed, to thereby assure a tight union of the parts.

.The seam clamps immediately adjacent either side of the ridge are of slightly different construction than those previously described, and are shown in Figures 5 and 6, and will be referred to as the saddle seam clamps. These saddle seam clamps are indicated at 2B and are identical with the seam clamps 1 except that the reduced por tions 2! are not weakened but are provided with a hole 22 therethrough. Thus when these saddle seam clamps are inserted between the roof sheet flanges 4 and through seam cap opening I0 and welded as described, the portion 2| remains to provide a means for attaching a running board saddle 23 thereto for supporting the running board 24 thereupon.-

In the modification shown in Figures 10 and 11, the structure is substantially the same as that previously described excepting that the seam clamp is'a continuous T section, with the stem 3!! thereof removed at the ends, and the base 3| bent down over the top wall of the side plate 3 and secured to the vertical wall thereof, as shown in Figure 10, though it maybe welded thereto if preferred. That part of the inwardly extending upper part 32 of the side plate upon which the 2. A Welded car roof construction comprising metal roof sheets disposed crosswise of the car and having upstanding flanges at their sides, said flanges shaped and arranged to form longitudinally spaced openings between said flanges, an inverted U-shaped seam cap shaped and arranged to span adjacent flanges, and having longitudinally spaced openings registering with the openings between the flanges, a seam clamp within the opening between said flanges, and the opening in said seam cap, and welded to said seam cap.

3. A metal roof for a railway car, said roof comprising a plurality of roof sheets formed so as to provide spaced openings between said sheets, a seam cap shaped and arranged to span a series of openings, and having longitudinally spaced openings registering with the openings between said sheets and a clamp inserted within an opening in said roof and an opening in said cap, and welded to said seam cap.

4. A metal roof for a railway car, said roof comprising a plurality of sheets having upstanding flanges at their sides, said flanges shaped and arranged to form a series of spaced flanged openings disposed from side to side thereof between said flanges, inverted U-shaped cap, having laterally extending base flanges, shaped and arranged to span a series of openings and adjacent flanges and engage said roof adjacent said openings, and having longitudinally spaced openings registering with the openings in said series, and a clamp within an opening in said roof and an opening in said cap, and. welded to said seam cap.

5. A metal roof for a railway car, said'roof comprising a plurality of sheets having upstanding flanges at theirsides, said flanges shaped and arranged to form a series of spaced flanged openings disposedfrom side to side thereof between said flanges, an inverted U-shaped cap having laterally extendingbase flanges, shaped and arranged to span aseries of'openings and adjacent flanges, and having longitudinally spaced openings registering with the openings in said series, and clamps within the openings in said roof and the openings in said cap and welded to said seam cap. I

6. A metal rooffor a railway car, said roof comprising roof sheets disposed crosswise of the car and having upstanding flanges along their adjacent margins, said flanges shaped and arranged to form longitudinally spaced openings between said flanges, a seam cap shaped and arranged to span adjacent flanges and having longitudinally spaced openings therethrough, registering with said openings between said flanges, and aseam clamp extending through an opening in the seam cap and welded to said seam capsaid seam clamp having a weakened portion above the seam cap, whereby said weakened portion may be broken off after said clamp has been welded to said cap.

" VICTOR E. WEST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

